Kalon is the classical Greek expression for perfectphysical and moral beauty. The three movementsexplore different aspects of kalon, also the context inwhich beauty can exist in ugliness and darkness. Thestring quartet assumes a different persona for eachmovement, like an actor adopting a different mask forthree acts of a play. A feature of the music is the independence of thetwo string groups which, in the first two movements,predominantly play in independent tempi. Even whenin tempo unison the two groups have musical lives oftheir own, either complimenting each other orinterrupting and making dramatic contrasts. The firstand third movements are fast and celebratory,enjoying the clear tempo independence of the twogroups. The second, by far the longest, blurs themusical contours and, with its two central quotes fromBeethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 Opus 130, is anelegy for those forced to create kalon in the midst ofdeath and suffering. The title “Beklemmt” refers to theeight-bar passage in the Beethoven’s Cavatinamovement in which the first violin becomesdisassociated from the rest of the quartet, almost as ifthe “oppressed, stifled, anguished” melody of its titlehas become lost in another world. I am indebted to Martyn Brabbins for his practicaladvice on composing in two simultaneous tempi andfor convincing me that Kalon can be performed withone conductor, rather than with two. Also my thanksto John Pickard for his support and encouragement,especially when I despaired of making the piece workas I had imagined it.
- ISMN: 9790708167037 (M708167037)